Judge keeps Henry Canton in the citrus industry

henry canton

A twenty-one page decision was handed down this morning by Justice Minnet Hafiz on the ongoing feud in the citrus industry over strongman Henry Canton. The Citrus Growers Association has been relentless in its efforts to oust Canton from his post as C.E.O. of Citrus Products of Belize Limited and at an extraordinary General Meeting on December seventeenth, 2010. The C.G.A., by resolution, terminated Canton. Canton maintained that the process was flawed and the minority shareholder in C.P.B.L., Banks Holdings Limited, is challenging the decision. A date has not yet been set for that matter, but in the meantime, the C.G.A. filed for an interim declaration to enforce three resolutions passed at the meeting, including Canton’s immediate termination. The C.G.A. wants Canton out because they claim he is the reason for the financial problems at C.P.B.L. But today, Justice Hafiz declined that application, which means that Canton remains the C.E.O. According to Judge Hafiz in a twenty-one page ruling, “the court is not convinced by the evidence that Dr. Canton is the reason why C.P.B.L. is experiencing financial difficulties.” The justice also ruled that the court intends to fast track the substantive action so that all issues could be fully ventilated. The other two resolutions on the application were to have Denzil Jenkins and Rosella Zabaneh on the Board of Directors and to appoint the firm, Horwath Belize LLP as independent auditors for C.P.B.L. The long and short of it is that Canton is precisely where he was before, as C.E.O. of the C.P.B.L. We note that in this case, the C.G.A. was represented by Attorney Elston Kaseke.

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